Wilde Fire
by thehufflepuffqueen
Summary: Nick Wilde and his partner in crime are blackmailed by an aspiring bunny officer to solve the case of the missing otter, Emmett Otterton. Things don't go as planned and it could spell disaster for Officer Hopps and prison for the fox. [Zootopia AU]
1. Chapter 1

Nick tugged at the taming collar around his neck. God he couldn't wait until he could take it off. It was the biggest pain. Still...he couldn't complain too much. At least he got to take it off. Not every predator in Zootopia was so lucky. Not a lot of them wanted to, but there were always the rebels. They just didn't know what they were missing.

"Hey Wilde Thing."

Nick looked up to see a gray fox walking down the alley towards him. She was a bit shorter than he was with some splotches of red fur along her neck, that continued along her body underneath the black shirt she wore tucked into a destroyed pair of denim shorts. He smirked at the vixen as she leaned against the wall next to him. "Hey Cassiopeia. Ready for tonight?"

The vixen rolled her eyes, "It's Cass, for the millionth time. And yes, the equipment is all set up. Finnick showed up with...you know...about an hour ago. How about on your end? You don't look like you're selling tickets."

Nick smiled down at her smugly, "That's because I already sold out."

"What?" The younger fox exclaimed. "But that's more than five-hundred-"

"Are you getting nervous, Cassiopeia?" Nick asked playfully. Cass glared up at him and he laughed, "Relax Cass, no one is going for you."

His smile faltered a bit as he watched her fidget with her own taming collar. He remembered when he was younger. He had looked forward to the day he got his taming collar. Everyone had. Now he wanted nothing more than to have it off at all times. He wasn't the only one, though. They couldn't take it off forever, though. Still, they could take it off tonight. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him for an awkward sideways hug. "Everything is going to be fine, Cass."

She smiled up at him and shook her head before pulling away from him, "Come on, sap. We still have things to do."

Smirking, Nick shook his head and followed her.

* * *

Judy Hopps was frustrated. She had forty-eight hours to solve Emmett Otterton's case. She'd looked over the little evidence that she had and combed over the area asking if anyone had seen the otter and nothing.

At least...at first. Finally, she got a lead. A brown bear named Phil Jones, who turned out to be Emmett Otterton's tailor, informed her that the last time he'd seen Otterton was at a little get together a few weeks before and they'd spoken about seeing each other at the next gathering. She asked where it was, but he wasn't any help there. He said that he didn't remember, brushing off the lack of evidence on his supposedly bad memory and worse sense of direction. Judy didn't believe him, but she didn't press the matter. She didn't have enough evidence or cause to press it. The bear did give her something else to go off of. He suggested that she find someone named Nicholas Wilde. He'd know where Otterton had gone after the party.

Unfortunately, finding a Nicholas Wilde in Zootopia was easier said than done. She'd found two-dozen Nicholas Wildes in Zootopia because Clawhauser was kind enough to let her use his log in at the ZPD. After that she had to go door to door and talk to all the Nicholas Wildes in the database. The first was a rhino. He'd never met Otterton. Then there was a beaver. A lion. A woodchuck. After the woodchuck she actually met another otter, but she was disappointed to find that he didn't know Emmett Otterton at all.

She'd been at it for more than an hour before she made her way to the last apartment. It wasn't exactly homey. Sure, her apartment was small and her neighbors were obnoxiously noisy, but at least her building didn't look like it was held together by old plumbing and duct tape. She went through the building and eventually had to ask for directions. The place ended up being by the service elevator. She could hear voices inside and she swallowed a lump in her throat, hoping that one of the occupants was Nick Wilde. She reached out her paw and knocked on the door.

Inside, everything went silent. Judy hoped that she wouldn't have to knock again and announce herself.

Just as that thought entered her mind the door opened and a found herself face to face with a gray vixen in a pair of jeans and a black tee shirt. . She couldn't help but tense a bit, recalling all the times her parents had warned her about shifty and sly foxes. She swallowed a lump in her throat and cautiously asked, "Nick Wilde?" She immediately felt like a fool. Nick Wilde was a fella...right?

The vixen sighed and rolled her eyes, "What did he do?"

Well at least she had the right door. "Oh, no he hasn't done anything...that I know of. I just wanted to ask him a few questions about a case."

The vixen pursed her lips together and glanced over her shoulder. She looked wary, but said, "Alright, I'll get him. Just a moment."

She left Judy at the door and the officer couldn't help but glance into the flat. It was unfinished, to put it lightly. There were no windows and the pipes were leaking...outside of the walls. A few of the pipes were being used to hang clothes, making a makeshift closet. There were some buckets on the floor collecting water from the more leaky pipes. Suddenly Judy felt a bit better about her tiny studio apartment. Sure, this one was quite a bit larger than hers, but it didn't look like the best place to live. She didn't want to judge though. Everyone just did their best. Besides, Judge Judy? How stupid did that sound?

Finally, a larger fox came to the door in slacks, a white button up shirt, and a black tie. He was a red fox who was taller than the gray fox that answered the door. Judy swallowed a lump in her throat, but pushed her fear aside before asking, "Nicholas Wilde?"

"That's right." The fox answered politely.

She pulled out her badge and showed it to him, "I'm officer Judy Hopps with the ZPD. I just have a few questions about my investigation."

The fox nodded and stepped aside to invite her inside, "Of course, officer. I'm sorry about the state of the apartment. We weren't expecting company."

Judy was pleasantly surprised by how polite he was. Her only real experience with foxes was with Gideon Gray when she was a kid and that...hadn't ended too well. "It's alright. This should only take a few minutes. Are you familiar with Emmett Otterton?"  
"Nick knows everyone!" The vixen called from the back room.

Nick chuckled and shook his head, "I'm sorry about Cassie. She's not the best at keeping her nose in her own business. She's right, though. I do know everyone. I haven't seen Emmett for a while though. Maybe two weeks, give or take."

Judy nodded. It sounded about right, "A Mr. Jones said that the last time he saw Mr. Otterton was at a party you threw, is that correct."

Nick nodded, "Yep. It was Cass's birthday so we wanted to celebrate with some of our friends."

"Oh that's fun!" Judy exclaimed without thinking. She regained her composure once she cleared her throat and shook her head, "Did you happen to see where he was going after he left?"

Nick shook his head, "No. I saw him get into a car and leave, but that's it. I know where he was coming from though."

Judy was about to ask where Otterton had come from, since no one else knew. She felt a tug on her sleeve and stopped suddenly. She looked down and found herself looking into a pair of big brown eyes. It was a tiny little fox in a gray and purple onesie sucking on a binkie. "Hey big guy." Nick said bending down and picking up the newcomer. "Sorry about that. This is my son, Finnick. He's a little rascal sometimes. Finn, this is officer Hopps."

Finnick waved his tiny little paw and Judy couldn't help but feel her heart melting. Perhaps it was because she had so many siblings, but she had a soft spot for kids. She smiled and waved back.

The vixen burst into the room, now wearing a green sun dress and looking frantic until she saw the little fox in Nick's arms. "Holy rabies," she panted, "I just turned around to get dressed and he was gone."

Nick chuckled, "It's alright, Cass. He just wanted to meet Officer Hopps."

The tiny fox reached out and leaned towards his mama and she took him. Judy just smiled. The little guy's ears seemed to be too big for his body, but that was alright. She was sure he'd grow into them. One of her brothers' ears were so long that he would trip on them and now they were just fine. She wasn't sure if that was how it worked with foxes. He was adorable. "He's quite a looker. I'm sure that he'll be a heartbreaker."

Nick chuckled, "Yeah. He wasn't exactly...part of the plan."

Cass shook her head and cuddled the little fox closer to her, "Yeah, but once he looked at me with those big, brown eyes I knew we were never letting him go."

"Adoption rates for foxes aren't...exactly the best anyway," Nick added. "But we make it work."

Judy heaved a sigh and shook her head, "It just breaks my heart that people have such backward ideas about foxes." She ignored the fact that she'd been a bit biased against them before getting to know them better. She'd had her eyes opened. "You two are great parents."

Cass smiled up and Nick and he wrapped an arm around her, "Well we do our best. It's always nice to be appreciated."

The cuckoo clock on the wall went off and Cass jolted, "Holy smokes, we're going to be late."

Nick shook his head and took Finnick out of her arms, "You head over, Finn and I will be along as soon as we've finished with officer Hopps here." She nodded and gave Nick a kiss on the cheek before apologizing to Judy for having to leave so soon. Once she was gone Nick explained, "Cass has been trying to make it as a singer since she got out of school. Tonight's her first real gig."

"Well good for her!" Judy exclaimed, "I'm sure she'll be great. If you could just tell me where Mr. Otterton had come from I can be right out of your hair."

"Of course," Nick said, setting down Finnick and reaching for a post it note. He scribbled down an address and the name Yax, "There. I know Emmett frequents this club quite a bit. If you talk to Yax then he'll know where your man went...he just won't know it at first. Also...you should probably know it's not exactly the most...savory place."

Judy took the post it note and assured Nick, "I'm sure I can handle it. I was the top of my class at the academy."

Nick smiled, "That's impressive, officer. Just...be ready for anything."

She nodded, but thought to herself that she wasn't just a token bunny. Still, she had no idea that he was trying to warn her that she would be heading to a naturalist's club. "Well, I can't thank you enough for your time, Mr. Wilde. It was very nice to meet you and your family."

"I assure you, the pleasure was all mine, officer," Nick replied, smiling charmingly. "If you need any other help then, please, don't hesitate to ask. Would you like me to walk you out?"

"That would be lovely, thank you." Judy smiled. Nick got a stroller for Finnick and held the door open for Judy before locking up and escorting Judy out of the building. They made more small talk. Finnick made some funny faces at Judy, which she laughed at before returning the favor. Once they reached the street Nick kindly pointed her in the right direction before bidding her farewell. Judy found that she had more bounce in her step after meeting the Wilde family. It was nice to finally meet someone nice in this city.

* * *

Judy couldn't help but feel a bit violated after her visit to the naturist community. It hadn't been a total loss though. Nick had been right. Yax knew everything...after he tried to get the information out of a very naked elephant yoga instructor. To boot he had even given her the plate number for the car he'd gotten into. A car that matched the description of the car Nick Wilde had told her had picked Otterton up from the party. Now all she had to do was go back to the station and get someone to run the plate for her since she wasn't in the system.

She was heading back to her little car when she saw a familiar face, one of the only familiar faces she knew. She was about to wave and say hello to the family when she realized...there must have been trouble in paradise. She ducked away behind the alley, not wanting to impose on them. They deserved their privacy. She wasn't expecting them to duck into the same alley she had wedged herself into and she burrowed behind a garbage bag so they wouldn't notice her.

"Don't you tell me to calm down," Cass snarled. "If you tell me to calm down one more time I swear I'm going to-" there was a loud zap and Cass yipped in pain from the shock from the taming collar. "I hate this stupid collar!" She exclaimed, yanking on it to make her point more clear.

Nick sighed and rolled his eyes, "That's why I told you to calm down. Besides, we didn't do anything wrong. The testimony I gave to the rabbit was all truth. She'll find the car and we won't be involved anymore."

"You aren't stupid enough to believe that, Nick," She snapped, "Otterton isn't the only one in our circle who's gone missing and it's only a matter of time before it's linked back to us. All you've done is bought us a bit of time."

"I know that," Nick said, leaning closer to Cass and dangerously lowering his voice, "But them going missing has nothing to do with us."

"I know, but once it circles back to us no one will bother looking any farther because we're foxes."

Nick heaved a sigh, lowering his head, "I always hated how blunt you are about the world. It makes it harder to be happy with it."

Cass shook her head, her ears and eyes turning down, "Of course it does. It's impossible to be in an unfair world."

An ominous silence hung through the air and Judy was certain her heart was beating a million miles a minute. "Come on," Nick said at last, "Mammals will be showing up soon. We have to be there before they are."

Cass agreed and finally they left.

Judy waited a bit before emerging from her hiding place, her nose twitching as she tried to process her thoughts. She could run the plate later. Now...she needed to find out more about the missing predators. Shen made sure the Wilde's hadn't seen her before she began to follow them.

 _Hey guys, thanks for reading! Don't forget to review, I shall love you forever._


	2. Chapter 2

Judy thumped her foot rapidly, trying to keep her temper under control. Preds only, the sign said. She had been hoping that she wouldn't have to go undercover to follow th foxes, but they had information about the case she was working on that they were withholding. She should have known better than to trust them!

Still, she hadn't been top of her class for nothing. It wasted about half an hour of her precious time, but she finally managed to get herself looking less like a bunny and more like a weasel. True, she felt like an idiot, but it was all for the sake of the case. She didn't have a taming collar so she settled for a turtleneck sweater.

Instead of going through the line of predators waiting to get into the warehouse she scanned the perimeter. She found a small hole, hardly big enough to squeeze into. She lost her fake muzzle in the process, but she reattached it and followed her ears to the squalor deeper in the warehouse. She was just a door away from entering the madness when she heard someone crying. Her long ears tried to perk up to seek out the noise, but her disguise prevented her from doing so. She didn't need her hearing to find the sad mammal. He was a coyote. Her parents had forced a bias against them upon her as well, but how bad could he be? He seemed so upset. She had never seen a pred so upset. It wasn't in her nature to just turn her back on an animal in this state.

"Pardon me?" She asked, cautiously jumping onto a stool next to the animal. "Are you alright?"

The coyote uncovered his face and looked at her, eyes still red and brimmed with tears. He sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve, "Oh, I'm fine little ferret." He sniffed, "My mate just left me last week."

"Oh no, I'm so sorry." Just said, putting a paw on his in a comforting gesture.

The coyote sniffed and shook his head, "It's alright, little one. I'll be fine. You're missing the party. You should get back." He helped her off the stool and bid her farewell. She felt bad just leaving him, but she understood that he just wanted his space.

She took a deep breath before stepping out into what the coyote called 'the party'. He hadn't been lying. It wasn't madness, but not calm either. She'd never seen so many predators in one place. Maybe it was that they were all dancing and going a bit crazy, but something seemed off. She just couldn't put her paw on it. She slinked around the walls of the warehouse, keeping her eyes peeled and her ears alert. It was hard to not let the air of the place get to her. Everyone was having so much fun. She was a fun bunny so she would have loved to jump into the fray and dance with these strangers, but she was here to work.

Finally, she reached the entrance of the warehouse and she realized what was wrong with these predator. None of them were wearing their collars! All of their collars were hung up behind a counter that a cougar was tending.

But...that didn't make any sense. They weren't out of control or blood thirsty. They were just...having fun. She became more wary after the wrongness became clear to her. The longer she looked for the Wildes after discovering the secret about the collars, the more clear it became that there was nothing to worry about. Most of the animals just having fun. There were a few who were crying, though, if you looked hard enough. It was a strange scene.

Her ears perked up when she heard a familiar voice.

"Good evening, everyone!" Nick Wilde's voice boomed over the chaos as the music calmed a bit. "Welcome back to Wild Times! For those of you here for the first time, I hope you're having a good time!"

Judy hopped as high as she could, but for the life of her she couldn't jump high enough to see the fox. She jolted in surprise when a pair of paws grasped her out of the air. She felt her heart beating a million miles a minute when she realized she was in the paws of a brown bear. He just gave her a small smile and placed her atop his head, giving her a proper view. She caught her breath and smiled before thanking him. He nodded, almost sending her flying. She steadied herself and focused on what the fox was saying.

"I know it's nice, but remember to pick up your collar on the way out." Nick reminded the preds. A chorus of 'boos' drowned him out and he shook his paws, "I know, I know, no one likes it, but it's part of the rules. Now, I know you all came here to have a good time, but I have a few reminders before we do." Judy perked up at the mention of announcements. "First of all, last time there were some issues with a guest who didn't want their collar back on. I would like to remind all of you that when it's time to shut this down...it's time to shut it down. If you refuse to comply then we're going to have to suspend Wild Times. Maybe just for a few months, maybe indefinitely. Don't be the mammal responsible for ruining this for everyone. We aren't mindless savages, and anyone who behaves as such will be banned from future events."

Under her mask, Judy's nose wiggled curiously. This was all illegal, she was sure, but it seemed well managed. She never had any experience with a taming collar, but the more she considered it the more she was sure it would be unpleasant. Could she really blame the predators for wanting them taken off? Especially when they didn't become manic and dangerous like most mammals assumed they did.

"Secondly," Nick continued before she could ge too far in thought, "I'm sure a lot of you have noticed that preds are going missing. Not all of them are patrons of Wild Times, but some of them are. If you know anything about the missing mammals then don't keep it to yourself. And until everything is figured out just be safe out there."

"Alright, Nick, stop being such a downer," A low voice cut the red fox off. Judy squinted and was surprised to find that the source of the deep voice was none other than Finnick, who was standing on top of a DJing station. "Who here is ready to party?!"

The uproar caught her by surprise, but she couldn't help but laugh a bit at the overwhelming zeal. Up on the stage, Nick shook his head at the smaller fox before announcing, "Alright everyone, it is my pleasure to announce, making her musical debut at Wild Times…"

* * *

"Your son has a surprisingly low voice."

Nick stopped in his tracks when he heard a familiar voice. He turnedly slowly in time to see none other than Officer Hopps. He swallowed a lump in his throat, but aside from that he kept his composure. "Officer Hopps...what a surprise."

"Save it, Slick Nick." Judy retorted before he could get any farther, "You lied to me, you...you liar!"

Nick shook his head, "I did no such thing. I just...withheld certain details."

"So you knew all the other mammals who have gone missing?" she pressed.

"How did you-" Nick paused, suddenly realizing, "You spied on me and Cass? Look who's talking about being a liar?"

Judy's jaw dropped, "How am I a liar?"

"Clearly you're just as biased against foxes as the mammals you shunned for stereotyping." Nick replied cooly, folding his arms in front of him.

Judy opened her mouth to argue, but shut it and made an irritated grunt when she found that he was right. "I happened to overhear you two, I didn't track you down or anything. I followed up on the lead you gave me and was about to head to the station to run a plate."

"Great, then you'll know that I had nothing to do with it." Nick countered.

"That's what I thought, but clearly you know more than you're saying," Judy shot back, "Plus this-" she waved her paws around to make it clear that she was talking about the nightclub, "is totally illegal."

"Really?" Nick replied calmly, "How so? Please, enlighten me, Carrots."

"Don't call me Carrots." Judy snapped, "And you're not authorized to remove tame collars."

Nick nodded, "That's true, but Gemma, the cougar at the front desk, is a chiropractor. She's within her legal rights to remove tame collars. Sweet girl."

"For medical purposes," Judy snapped, "Chiropractors can remove taming collars for medical purposes."

"We call it R and R," Nick replied, "It's a medical term."

"Well what about throwing a party without a noise permit, squatting in this warehouse, and serving alcohol of minors?" Judy shot off her reasons, confident that she had gotten her fox trapped.

Nick rolled his eyes, "We don't have any alcohol here. There are about a dozen wolves that constantly comb through the crowd to make sure we keep it that way," He reached into his shirt pocket, took out with wallet, and got out his ID and two folded up piece of paper, "Here is my licence and a noise permit issued to Nicholas Piberius Wilde and the deed to the warehouse."

Judy took the documents and her nose wiggled irritably at the documents, "The deed isn't issued to you."

"That's right, it's issued to Cassiopeia Geraldine Wilde," He countered, "I can have the owner here in a few minutes if you're willing to-"

Before Nick could get another word in another driver's licence was placed into the bunny's hand. Nick's ears lowered and he scowled at the gray fox, "You have another two songs, what're you doing, Cass?"

Cass reached into her ear, pulled out a small communication device, and slapped it into his paw, "I was worried about you, you stupid idiot." She snapped, "Plus, if you don't want me hearing everything you're saying then turn your comm off."

"Well there's nothing to worry about. I've made it perfectly clear to Hopps here that everything we're doing is perfectly legal."

Judy scowled at the foxes, her patience wearing thin, "You know, I'm sure that if I brought other officers here they would find something to shut you down for. Not to mention one or both of you would end up in prison."

"Why you little rat," Cass growled, her hackles beginning to raise to bare her teeth.

Nick clamped his paws over her mouth before she could start snarling and rolled his eyes, "Alright alright, just…" He heaved a sigh and shook his head, "What do you want?"

"I have thirty-nine hours to find Emmett Otterton. If you help me then I'll keep your little...thing...under wraps."

Cass snorted and covered her mouth with her paw at the mention of Nick's 'little thing'. Nick, in turn, scowled at her, his ears flattening. "Are you a kit?" he asked her impatiently.

Judy rolled her eyes, "I don't have time for this. Are you in or not?"

Nick sighed and shook his head, "Fine, Carrots. I'll help you find your otter."

Judy smiled, "Wonderful. Now, both of you put your collars back on and let's go."

"Both of us?" Cass questioned.

Judy nodded, "Yes. From where I'm standing you were both withholding evidence, you're both involved in this, so you're both coming."

Cass's nose wrinkled and she clenched her paws tightly together. Nick just scoffed, "Alright, fine Fluff, we'll get our collars and meet you outside."

"Don't call me Fluff." Judy warned him, pointing at him menacingly.

Nick didn't acknowledge this and pressed on.

"Word to the wise, officer Hopps," Cass injected as she followed the other fox, "The more it bothers you the more he'll do it."

Judy glared at the foxes as the exited and huffed to herself. She had to remind herself that not only Emmett Otterton's well being was at stake, but her career as a police officer was on the line as well. If she had to resort to working with foxes to get the job done...then so be it.


	3. Chapter 3

"That's your car?" Nick asked, unable to keep the bewildered look from his face.

"Yes...this is my car." Judy answered, trying to hide the fact that she was just as embarrassed by the clown car as she could be.

"How do you propose we all fit?" Nick pressed, "There's only room for two."

"You could always tie me to the hood. That could be fun." Cass suggested dryly.

"No one's getting tied to the hood," Judy declared as she began removing traffic cones from the back of the car, "Someone's just going to have to sit in the back."

"With no seat belt?" Nick challenged, "I don't know, Hopps, it sounds pretty illegal."

Cass rolled her eyes and gave Nick a jarring slap on the back of his head, "I'll sit in the back...idiot."

Nick's ears lowered as he glared at the other fox, "What, you're gonna leave me alone in the front with Officer Toot Toot?"

Cass noted that there was now enough room for her to squeeze into the back and she jumped on the small bed of the car. "Just keep your paws to yourself."

Judy looked at the fox with a slight air of disgust, "That won't be a problem."

"I was talking to him." Cass informed the police officer as she situated herself.

Nick chuckled as he got into the passenger seat, completely aware of how uncomfortable the officer had become. Still, Judy had a case to crack. She stilled her nerves and got behind the wheel.

After Judy called Clawhauser and got him to run the plate for her they made their way to Tundra Town. The silence was deafening. Judy actually preferred the silence. She wasn't sure how to make conversation with these con artist foxes. Nick didn't mind the quiet. Cass was growing tired of it and uncoiled her earbuds from her phone and turned on some music, loud enough that she couldn't hear anything.

Judy's ears perked up at the sound and she glanced over her shoulder at the fox, who was too busy watching the buildings they passed to notice. "Is that Breedway?" Judy asked.

"She can't hear you," Nick informed the rabbit officer before she found that out on her own. "As for it being Breedway, most likely. If not then it's probably opera or something."

Judy glanced back at the gray fox again, her chin jutting out thoughtfully. The music at Wild Times was crazy fun pop music. She never would have pegged a fox as a mammal with an appreciation for the more classical music. "She just struck me as more of a...Gazelle fan or something."

Nick snorted, "That's hysterical."

Judy bit her lower lip, but didn't press the matter. She didn't know anything about these foxes. Perhaps it was unjust to judge them just yet, but she still didn't trust them.

A few more minutes and they reached the limo company. Judy made a loud and frustrated noise when she read the 'closed' sign on the hit her head against her steering wheel, which attracted Cass's attention and made Nick jolt away from the bunny.

"Calm down, Carrots," Nick huffed, "Just come back tomorrow when they're open."

Judy heaved a sigh and slowly sat up, "I have told you….I only have a limited amount of time to solve this case and I don't have a warrant."

"So just go in and say you saw someone breaking in," Cass injected as she turned off her music and wrapped her headphones around her phone.

Judy stared at the gray fox, her mouth agape, "That's illegal."

Cass shrugged, "And you're a cop. It comes with certain rules you can bend."

"No it does not!" Judy shot back hotly, "I could only enter the premises with probable cause, which I do not have and I don't have a warrant so unless someone just happens to break in-"

"Hey Carrots!" Judy and Cass looked toward the sound of Nick's voice. Cass covered her mouth as she snickered at him and Judy scowled at him. He was on the other side of the fence, waving casually, "Hey Officer Fluff, I'm breaking and entering. You better stop me."

Judy rolled her eyes and approached the fence, "Come on."

Cass, instead, nestled into the front seat. "Actually, if it's all the same to you, I _don't_ have anything on my record, which I'm sure is quite a shock to you. I'd like to keep it that way."

Judy huffed and followed Nick into the fenced off lot.

After about fifteen minutes of hunting, they found the car. It seemed like just another ordinary limo. Judy found some polar bear hair, Nick scared the daylights out of her by exclaiming that he found 'the soulful pipes of Jerry Vole' Judy just heaved a sigh and shook her head. She could handle more than a hundred rowdy bunnies, no problem. Heck, that was just another weekend babysitting, but two snarky foxes? It was too much. She got back to work, combing over the limo.

She was surprised when Nick found quite the scene. The back of the limo was covered in scratch marks. Some stuffing was ripped out of the seat. To top it off, Mr. Otterton's wallet was in the back! Now all she needed to do was find out who the car belonged to and keep following the trail. It was like a wild goose chase and though she didn't act like it, she loved it. Judy was about to start snapping photos of the crime scene when Nick sprung into a panic, declaring that they had to leave, explaining that the car belonged to the most scary mob boss in all of Zootopia.

That wasn't enough to get Judy out the door...but the polar bears outside didn't give her much choice.

* * *

Luckily, Mr. Big was more than happy to help...after he threatened to ice them. It was all just sheer dumb luck. Judy would have saved the shrew from the wild rolling doughnut the day before even if she had known that Fru Fru was Mr. Big's daughter. Still, they had to wait to get any answers out of the tiny mobster. Not that Judy could be too cross about that. After all, she and Nick were the ones who had ended up crashing Fru Fru's wedding. Nick had slipped out into the hall to call Cass as Fru Fru made Judy socialize with her family and friends. Judy did so politely and had to keep from telling herself that like it or not, she'd made ties with the mafia. Still...that wasn't all bad. She wasn't going to barge into ZPD and declare that she'd made friends with an underground boss or anything, she wasn't dumb. Still, she knew those kind of connections weren't easy to make. Loads of detectives and police officers went their entire careers without making those kind of ties. Judy had managed to do it within her first month on the job. Take that, Chief Bogo.

When Nick came back he glanced nervously up at the polar bears surrounding the party, but aside from that stayed perfectly calm. He pulled up the seat next to Judy and as soon as Fru Fru and her bridesmaids, Lily and Petunia, excused themselves to see to the other guests he informed her, "Cass is on her way with the car. Should be here in about fifteen minutes."

Judy quirked a brow at him, "I have the keys in my pocket...how is she coming with the car?"

"Relax, Fluff, she's hot wiring it. Finnick taught her how to do it when she was thirteen." Nick answered flippantly.

"She's hot wiring my car?" Judy snapped, trying to keep her voice down.

"Yeah," Nick shot back, "And you're the guest of honor at a mafia wedding."

Judy glared at him, but she couldn't deny that he was right. This investigation certainly wasn't going as planned. It wasn't exactly the most honest investigation so far. At least she was making progress though. The rest of the department had been on the case for two weeks now and they hadn't gotten as far as she had. It had to count for something.

Finally, Mr. Big had a few moments to speak with them. Nick and Judy had originally thought that Mr. Otterton had been the one under attack, but according to Mr. Big it had been the other way around. Otterton had attacked the driver and then vanished without a trace. Sadly, Mr. Big knew nothing else, but still...it was another lead. All they had to do was keep pulling the thread and eventually the case would unravel.

Judy then explained that she was on a time crunch to find Mr. Otterton and Mr. Big understandingly let them see themselves out. Before Nick left Mr. Big told the fox that he was lucky that his friend had saved his daughter or else he would have been under the ice. His Skunk-Butt Rug incident was now in the past...but not forgotten. He'd have to find some way to completely redeem himself, eventually. For now, though, he was just glad he wasn't stuck in the freezing cold water, condemned to slowly freeze to death.

"Alright Carrots, where's this driver guy?" Nick asked as they stepped onto the stoop and one of the polar bears slammed the door shut behind them on their way out.

Judy glanced back at the card she'd gotten with the driver's address and answered, "Oscuro Manchas...he's in-"

"The rain forest district." Nick groaned, familiar with the name.

"You know him?" Judy asked.

"Cass told you, I know everyone." Nick answered impatiently.

The fox and bunny looked up at the sound of a little horn toot tooting. Once she had their attention Cass parked the car and hopped in the back. "Please tell me our next stop in in Sahara Square," Cass shivered when Judy and Nick got in the tiny car. "I'm freezing."

Nick smirked, "Good news, we're going to the Rain Forest District to see an old boyfriend of yours."

Judy gave Nick a befuddled look as she started the car, unsure if he was being serious or just joking. Cass cocked her head to the side and had to hold onto the car as Judy pushed down on the gas. "Old boyfriend from the Rain Forest district….is it Zorro?"

She sounded a bit hopeful and Nick's face went blank at the suggestion. "No, it's not Zorro, the charming and suave black fox...I hate that guy."

Judy bit her lip to keep back a smile. It only seemed natural that he would dislike his significant other's old flames.

Cass rolled her eyes, "I happen to have liked Zorro...before I found out that he was married. He's the only person I can think of that I dated in the Rain Forest District."

"His name is Oscuro Manchas." Judy injected before their banter could continue.

"Manchas?" Cass repeated, outraged. "How did Manchas get a job for Mr. Big?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Nick snapped back. "It doesn't matter though because you're staying in the car."

"Like hell I am!" Cass spat back.

"She doesn't have to wait in the car if she doesn't want to." Judy stepped in.

"You don't get a say in this, Rabbit," Nick snapped, pointing at Judy. "It'll be hard enough for me to not rip his good for nothing - OW!" Nick stopped as he was zapped, but instead of calming him down his taming collar just made him silent and broody.

Cass took a deep breath, knowing that Nick must have been really upset if his collar shocked him. Nick never let anything get to him usually. She rolled her eyes before declaring, "Look, had I been in the limo with you guys I could have gotten Biggie to keep you out of the ice. Fru Fru and I had the same singing coach for, like, five years. He's like an uncle to me...not to you anymore because you were a complete idiot. You guys got lucky. I'm not sitting this one out."

Nick glared back at Cass for a few seconds before turning his gaze back to the windshield, the light on his collar still glowing yellow rather than green, indicating that he was on edge or upset. "If he so much as looks at you wrong -"

"Nick, we're in a car with a cop...I'd put a lid on the death threats for the time being."

 _Breedway=Broadway, just in case you didn't get it. Zootopia is full of animal puns so it had to be done. Also, I'm sure you noticed I didn't add the **Ice 'Em** scene, mostly because it's the canon scene so there's really no point in rewriting it. Perhaps I was just being lazy, but hey, you can put it all in your brain. As for Cass, please trust me when I say that she's not there to be the female fox version of Jack Savage as the destroyer of Wildehopps (speaking of Jack, he will be making an appearance in this fic. I won't say when, where, or how, but he will. I haven't decided if he'll be 'Destroyer of Wildehopps or whatever, but he will be in it) But back to my original point, Cass is there for a reason, and it's not just to piss off Wildehopps shippers. I'm not disclosing if she's Nick's wife or his sister or his cousin or if they're just friends who happen to have the same last name (let's be real, Wilde isn't exactly the most uncommon last name so anything is possible). Anyway, I don't want to ruin the surprise because I'm a tease. Anyway, leave a review and let me know what you think. If you have suggestions or questions or whatever, or if you just wanna say hi. Also, just as a side note, yes, I did intentionally name Fru Fru's bridesmaids after Lily and Petunia Evans because Harry Potter is my religion, praise be unto Rowling (I'm only kind of joking...I'm done now though.)_


	4. Chapter 4

"Shut up!" Judy and Cass simultaneous shouted at Nick as Judy parked the car at the base of the tree. The fastest way to talk to Manchas would be to ditch the car and climb up so there was no point in keeping the car, for now.

Nick, who had still been fuming about how it was idiotic to let Cass even enter the same room as Manchas for the entire drive, pursed his lips together and scowled out the window. Judy had no idea what past Cass and Nick had with Manchas, but there certainly seemed to be a bit of bad blood, more from Nick than Cass. Judy had no idea what had transpired between Cass and the driver, but that was a question for another time.

They were about halfway up the path circling the tree when Nick started on about Manchas again. Judy shut her eyes as tight as they would go and took an ear in each paw before yanking down on them.

"That's IT!" Cass exploded, turning and shoving the bigger fox against the trunk of the tree. "You sit here, count to three-hundred, and if you're willing to shut the hell up about Manchas then you can catch up with us."

"But I didn't-" Nick began.

"Shut up shut up shut UP!" She got so close to his face that his ears went flat from the intrusion, but her outburst got the desired effect. She then turned her back on him and continued the climb up the kapok tree.

Judy glanced back and forth between the two foxes before she hopped to catch up to Cass.

After a moment of quiet Cass stepped aside to let Judy hop up a step in the path. "I'm sorry you had to watch me shout at my idiot back there."

Judy smiled and laughed a little before she cleared the step before waiting for the fox to follow in suite, "It's okay. I don't blame you for shouting at him. He's certainly...something."

Cass scoffed as the two fell in step with each other, "Yeah, you can say that again."

There was silence again and Judy saw it...an opening. "If you...don't mind me asking-"

"What happened with me and Manchas?" Cass finished for the rabbit.

Judy's nose twitched a bit. She hoped she hadn't struck a nerve. "You can feel free to keep it to yourself if I'm being too forward."

Cass shook her head, "Nah, it's in the past. I try to not look back. It distracts from the now." She chuckled, but her smile faltered when she didn't get even a smile out of Judy. She heaved a sigh and began. "He and I dated for a few months. It was...okay. At first. He was more into me than I was into him so...I ended things. I don't like wasting my time if something isn't going anywhere. He accused me of leading him on. He taught me a lot of fictional things about myself. Claimed I only wanted to end things with him because he's a panther and I'm a fox and I viewed interspecies relationships as disgusting...me, of all people." She scoffed.

Judy raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean 'you of all people'?"

Cass's ears perked up at the question, "Oh, you can't really tell but I'm a halfbreed. Half gray and half red fox. You can't really tell though so I don't make a fuss about it. I mean, both my parents were foxes. It's not like if a fox and a giraffe had a kit. That would be...well, honestly I'm not sure what it would be. A firaffe? A gox?...what was my point?"

"I'm not sure...you talking about Manchas thinking you only wanted to break up with him because of the interspecies thing," Judy replied, suddenly feeling dumb for asking.

"Right. Anyway," Cass began again, "Manchas just wouldn't accept that we were done so...he...threw me out of his window and left me for dead. It wasn't intentional or anything...I'm pretty sure, but still, he didn't try and remedy the situation."

"What?!" Judy exclaimed.

Cass nodded, "Yeah, I probably would have died if Finnick hadn't found me and taken me to the veterinary. He was waiting to help me move some of my things. So in a way not having a car saved my life. Haven't complained about having to walk or take the train ever since."

"That's attempted murder!" Judy snapped, "Did you report him at least?"

"Yeah, but it didn't do any good," Cass answered.

"His taming collar should have stopped him from doing something like that," Judy continued. "Did he have it off at the time?"

Cass started laughing, "You prey and your delusions about these taming collars. Sure, if you get mad because someone spilled your Snarlbucks or cut you off then yes, a little zap is more than enough to calm you down, make you reassess your priorities, and continue on your way. However, if you really want or need to be mad or upset, if you need to cry or scream or you want to break someone...or something...the collars won't stop you from doing it. If anything it just fuels the fire."

Judy opened her mouth to argue, but then she paused and considered Cass's point. She'd seen a load of predators at Wild Times, none with their collars on, and none seemed dangerous. "You know, I can see why Nick wouldn't want you to go up there," Judy began.

"I am not going back to the car," Cass declared, her tone cold and final. "Besides, he likely still has my copy of Moulin Rouge and I'd like it back. It's the deluxe edition. They don't make them anymore."

Judy paused for a moment and looked up at the fox, "You like Moulin Rouge?

"Yeah, it's only my favorite movie," Cass answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Mine too!" Judy exclaimed, "The first time I saw it I cried for an hour straight."

"Me too!" Cass squealed, "I think we just became best friends."

Judy laughed, "I think we did too."

"I'm gone for five minutes and you two are squealing about the worst movie ever made," Nick grumbled as he rejoined them.

"Worst movie?" Judy questioned, flabbergasted.

"Do you have any idea how many times Cass made me watch that movie?" Nick questioned, "Three times while it was still in theaters and at least two-hundred times when it came out. That's not counting the hundreds of thousands of times she listened to the soundtrack."

"It's a revolutionary musical, you half wit," Cass snapped, "It was the first time an interspecies couple were the center of an Ocelot nominated film, and not as some appalling caricature."

"You only like it because Nicole Kitman is the lead," Nick shot back.

Cass shrugged casually, but she couldn't help but smile, "That's not the only reason. She's my hero, though. No other fox has done as well in the industry as she has."

"Yeah, and no fox ever will," Nick replied.

Judy thought that Nick's words sounded a bit cold, and she couldn't help but feel defensive when Cass went quiet, her eyes and ears down. Then she recalled Nick having told her that Cass had wanted to be a singer...could that have been true? "There's no need to be cynical. Why couldn't a fox be an Ocelot nominated actor? This is Zootopia! Anyone can-"

"Anyone can be ANYTHING!" Nick replied with a mocking tone to his amusement. "A bunny can be a cop and a fox can be an actress."

"Why couldn't a fox be an actress?" Judy retorted defensively. It was clear that everyone was talking about Cass now. Judy couldn't see why the vixen couldn't be an actress or a singer or whatever else she wanted to be just because Nick Wilde disagreed.

"A fox tried," Cass answered before Nick could.

Judy opened her mouth to say that all she had to do was keep trying, but she stopped herself when she noted Nick's somber expression and the yellow light glowing on his collar. Sure, he was acting cynical and cold, but clearly there was something about the conversation that wasn't sitting well with him.

"We're almost there," Nick muttered, breaking the uneasy silence at last. Judy pursed her lips, still wanting to press the matter, but she didn't. That was the end of it...at least for now.

* * *

Judy's foot thumped she angrily crossed her arms across her chest. She could hear Manchas inside, but he hadn't answered the door, even after she had said she was with the ZPD.

"Bad idea, Carrots," Nick said as soon at the words were out of her mouth.

Cass rolled her eyes and wedged herself between Nick and Judy before they could start a string of playful banter. She knocked on the door again, "Oscuro, open up. It's Cass."

The door opened, just a crack, and a bright green eye stared down at them. "Well, Cassiopeia...it's been some time."

Cass's face went flat, "It's Cass. And yeah, it's been, what, five years?"

Oscuro's eyes flashed down to Judy and back to Cass a few times before he said, "I hope you will forgive me for what happened last I saw you...you had broken my heart-"

"And had some branches not broken her fall she would have shattered her spine," Nick spat before the jaguar could finished. Cass stomped hard on his tail to get him to shut up. The older fox yipped and took hold of his tail, cradling it as he glared down at Cass.

"Yeah, well anyway, you sort of owe me for...you know, trying to kill me and all. So, this is my friend, Judy." Cass gestured to the rabbit, who was taken aback at first, but managed a small smile before waving up at the panther. "She's investigating the disappearance of Emmett Otterton. You're the last person who's seen him so...just answer her questions."

"We were told that you were driving the car that Mr. Otterton was in when we was last seen," Judy stepped in, wedging herself between Nick and Cass to make it to the front of their little pack. "Could you tell me what happened to him?"

"You should be asking what happened to me," Manchas replied, opening the door a bit more and revealing a collection of scratches and bite marks around his other trio listened in a befuddled hush as Manchas recanted his story. The details lined up with Mr. Big's, but with a bit more drama. Except for one small detail. Otterton had been shouting about Night Howlers just before he'd gone crazy. Manchas seemed to want to leave it at that. Luckily, thanks to Nick's quick thinking, Manchas fell under the impression that they already knew about the Night Howlers.

Manchas unlocked the door and was about to let them in...but something was amiss. He started groaning and growling and there was a clatter from him running into something.

"Mr. Manchas?" Judy called out, cautiously pushing the door open after looking back at the foxes. Cass's ears were flat and her eyes were wide and Nick's head was cocked curiously to the side when they saw the sight. Manchas was going crazy! He was...he was going savage. "Run." Judy ordered the foxes when Manchas turned and locked his gaze upon them. Nick didn't need to be told twice, but he did have to turn back after a few steps and yank Cass behind him, who had frozen in terror. Once Nick yanked her away her instincts finally kicked in and she ran. They were about half way across a rickety rope bridge when Manchas reached the fragile structure. A wave shot through the bridge and flung Judy and Cass off the bridge.

Nick managed to stay on the higher level with Manchas, somehow. The red fox chanced a glance down and was relieved to see that both Judy and Cass had landed on a thick branch.

"Nick!" Judy shouted up at him when she saw that he had slowed down.

Manchas's swiping claws got a bit too close and Nick yipped in surprise before picking up the pace. "Head to the sky trams!" He shouted down at them as loud as he could. He shouted the words'Sky trams' a few more times as he kept running. Luckily, Judy had excellent hearing so the reminders were unnecessary.

"Come on, Cass, we have to go!" Judy shouted before heading in the right direction. It only took a short while for Judy to realize that Cass wasn't following her. She was still clinging to one of the protrusions on the massive branch, despite the fact that she was perfectly safe. Judy ran back and gently shook the fox, "Cass, it's okay. We have to go. Manchas is still after Nick," Her tone was gentle, but firm and it was enough to get Cass to let go and look up.

"Nick...sky trams," Cass said, her voice shaky as she forced herself up onto her feet.

Judy nodded, "That's right, we have to hurry." Cass nodded and started rushing after the rabbit. "Just don't look down!" Judy reminded the fox as they ran to regroup with Nick.

"I wasn't going to," Cass panted, more to herself than to Judy. She was still experiencing a bit of vertigo, as is to be expected from someone who had a near death experience due to falling from someone who had nearly made an almost identical fall again. She wasn't about to chance a glance at the rain forest floor to make it worse. Still, she would push past being dizzy and she could always vomit later. Now she just wanted to get to Nick and Manchas and hope that she and Officer Hopps weren't too late.

As they ran, Judy radioed into the ZPD for help. Cass wasn't sure if the police would be of any help, but she kept her concerns to herself. They were almost to the trams now. No matter what, she had to keep going.

 _Did I end this on a cliffhanger? Yes, yes I did. Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans. Leave me a review and I'll try to not burn down any houses when I set off fireworks tonight._


	5. Chapter 5

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no-

Nick repeated the word in his head over and over, but it never did any good. He was a great deal smaller than Manchas, which saved his life about a dozen times already, but there was no nook or cranny that he could slip into and the sky tram car had made its exit. The other one wouldn't be there for a while, and even if it was what about Carrots? What about Cass? They'd be along shortly and then what? He'd just leave the girls behind to deal with the savage beast? He might have been a shifty, untrustworthy fox, but he still had a droplet of honor left in him.

"Listen, buddy," Nick began, hoping that he could somehow smooth talk Manchas. His mouth had always proven to be his strongest line of defense, but something told him it would be of little help now. "From one predator to another-"

That's as much as Nick got out before Oscuro's big paw pinned the fox on the slippery, wet loading area. Manchas growled and Nick tried to push himself away from the larger and more cross predator.

Suddenly, a flash of gray slammed hard into the panther's head, knocking him off balance enough for Nick to wiggle free. Nick frantically searched for his heroine and was horrorstruck when he saw Judy hanging half off the sky dock, struggling to climb back up on the slick wood. "Judy!" Nick, shouted to her, moving to advance to help her up.

"Go! I'll be fine," Judy shot back as she struggled to get up onto solid ground.

But Nick wasn't going to go. He wasn't that kind of fox. He waited until he had an opening and he ran for it. He wasn't unnoted by Manchas, though. The panther began to advance on them and would have been on them in an instant. He yowled in pain and started bucking and violently shaking his head. Nick got Judy on her feet and held her against him for a second before placing her feet back down on the ground. Manchas was otherwise occupied, violently shaking his head and trying to dislodge the gray fox whose teeth were clamped down viciously on his ear.

"Cass, no!" Judy exclaimed, reaching a paw out to her new friend, despite the fact that it was too late. Cass was gripping his fur at the base of his neck to try and get a better hold, but it was only a matter of time.

Nick froze stiff as he watched Cass hang on for dear life. He couldn't help her...he didn't know how. '

Luckily, Judy did. She'd just chalk it up to having watched too much Star Wars as a kid. There was a chain near the big cat's feet and while he was trying to get the fox off of him Judy managed to coil the chain around one of his paws. While he was still distracted she roped the chain around one of his other paws. She got out from under him and secured the chain around a lamp post just in time for Manchas to dislodge the fox. He batted her away, his claws ripping through her shirt and gouging the flesh on her side before she struck a tree and didn't get up.

Once free, Manchas leered at Nick and Judy, his teeth bared. He lunged at the pair and they had to leap away to avoid his swiping claws. Luck was on their side, though, and before they could hit the ground they were tangled into a knot of branches and vines that caught them before they hit the road.

Blue and red flashing lights caught Nick's attention and he swallowed a lump in his throat. "Well this'll be fun."

* * *

Nick glared at the spot where he had seen Cass land, his mouth clenched tightly together. There were still traces of her there in the small smears of blood on the wood and moss, but the fox was nowhere to be seen. She wasn't the only one to have gone missing, though. Manchas was gone too. Judy was trying to explain to Chief Bogo what had happened, but the buffalo and none of the other officers were buying the story. He perked up when the rabbit mentioned him as a witness. No one took that suggestion seriously though, but that was no surprise to Nick.

When Bogo demanded that Judy hand over her badge it all suddenly became clear. The timeline, that is. She had staked her career upon solving this case. Maybe none of the other officers could see it, but Judy was a fantastic cop. In his opinion, she was the best cop that he had ever met. She was so passionate about the work, but she was also fair. She was a better cop than any of the other officers who had shown up for backup. The rabbit's ears were drooping and she was struggling to stand up for herself when Bogo demanded that she hand over her badge again.

"No." Nick retorted, his voice low but clear.

All of the officers turned to face him as he stood up. "What did you say, fox?" Bogo snorted.

Nick pushed his way past the much larger officers and took his place next to Judy, "I said 'noooooo'," He repeated, dramatically exaggerating the word. "You gave her two days, a clown car, and no leads to solve a case that you and your 'real cops' haven't been able to crack in weeks. So yeah, she got some help from the creatures of the underworld. None of you were going to help her, which says more about the underbelly of Zootopia than it says about you." Bogo opened his mouth to shout at Nick, but Nick wasn't even going to think about letting Buffalo Butt get a word in. "You gave her forty-eight hours to solve the case so technically that gives us-" He counted on his paws just to be sure before he said, "Twelve more hours to find our missing otter so, if you will excuse us, Officer Hopps and I have a case to crack. Good day."

Judy wanted to stay behind, maybe apologize to Bogo, but that wouldn't do any good. Besides...Nick was right. Sure, they didn't really have much of a lead to follow, but they did have more time now. Nick opened the door for her to get into the sky tram and she entered before he followed.

They sat in silence until Judy worked up the nerve to thank him and Nick offered her a piece of advice. "Never let them see that they get to you."

It took a bit of prying, but Judy was able to get Nick to open up about his past. The story he told her...well, it broke her heart. She could see why he was so cynical and defensive.

"Nick...I'm really sorry. I always just thought-"

"No one would pick on a predator?" Nick asked. She didn't answer, but she didn't have to. "It's okay, Carrots. It's in the past."

Judy went quiet and looked down at the rainforest below them. "May I...speak freely?" Nick grunted and nodded, but didn't look at her. She swallowed a lump in her throat before she said, "I'm not sure if it's really fair of you to push you cynicism onto Cass." Nick looked at her with a raised eyebrow and Judy explained, "It's just...she's got a lot of hope. She doesn't really show it, but it's there."

Judy was taken aback when Nick started chuckling, "You're very perceptive. I don't...mean to shoot her down. I just...don't want to see her getting hurt again."

"Again?" Judy asked, confused.

Nick nodded, "Yeah. It's almost like if you're a fox by the name of Wilde you're doomed to some nightmarish and traumatic event."

"Cass got muzzled too?" Judy asked, hardly able to believe that so many prey animals could be so cruel to predators. But why? All they had to do was get to know them and she was sure she'd see they weren't all so bad. Heck, that's what happened with Judy when she was forced to get to know Nick and Cass. Cass had even declared that she and Judy had become best friends. Judy didn't really care if the fox didn't mean it, it had still been the nicest thing anyone had said to her since she moved to Zootopia, and Nick standing up to Bogo for her was the nicest thing anyone had done for her possibly ever.

Nick scoffed and shook his head, "No, no, Cass didn't get muzzled...I think it would have been better if she had been, honestly."

"So you're just not going to tell me and you're going to leave me in suspense forever?" Judy asked, halfway joking.

Nick rolled his eyes and shook his head. They had time, confined to the sky trams, so he supposed there was no harm in it. "Fine….but you can't tell Cass I told you."

Judy nodded. That seemed fair.

Nick sighed and considered where to begin, "I told you Cass wanted to be a singer, right? Well that wasn't...exactly a lie. The first time she saw the Pony Awards on TV I think she was maybe...six. She didn't really care that most people didn't want to see predators on the stage or on the screen. It's a tough business for anyone, but preds have the odds stacked higher against them. It didn't matter to her, though. She decided then and there that she was going to be a 'star'," Nick spread his paws dramatically at the word, almost mocking it. "She did a couple of plays for high schools when she was a kid, just to get the experience under her belt. I wanna say she was maybe...sixteen when she finally landed a part in an actual play, and it was a lead to boot. It was just for a crappy little Off-Breedway theater, but you would have thought she had already won a Pony because she was so excited about it. Anyway, her love interest, for the play I mean, he had a really jealous...really petty girlfriend. It was about a month into them learning the songs and rehearsing and everything when the little doe decided that Cass wasn't just there to act in the play, but she was there to steal her boyfriend too. So, this girl started cozying up to Cass, ya know tried to make Cass super comfortable with her. It didn't...exactly work, but Cass just kept her distance. So opening night for her play came. I had a front row seat because I am goddamn loyal to the mammals I care about. It's a curse, really. Cass wasn't anywhere to be found though so when the director came on stage to announce that the beginning of the play needed to be momentarily postponed and to apologize for the inconvenience. The curtains opened behind him and there was Cass...gagged, tied up, naked, and in a cage with a big sign that said 'Better Dead Than Pred' in big red letter, like she was some kind of monster. No one really knew what to do with the situation, and those who weren't in shock at seeing her started...laughing. So, because no one else was doing anything, I got her out, untied her, gave her my jacket and took her home. Turns out she'd been in that damn cage since the night before, put there by the jealous little deer and her possee. Cass never even went to another audition after that. I honestly can't say I blame her," Nick seemed more angry about retelling Cass's story than he had been sad about his own.

Judy was finding herself regretting that she had found out any more about Cass and Nick. It certainly was a mood killer, but on the other hand, she found that she respected both of them more for it. "I really hope that you reported that girl. That's...awful."

Nick scoffed and shook his head, "It's not like we had any evidence. It was the word of two foxes against the word of a seemingly sweet little deer. It's not like it would have been caught on the jam cams or anything."

"Well still, it's cruel and heartless and no one should be able to get away with -"

Judy kept talking, but Nick had toned her out. "The jam cams," He repeated to himself.

"Nick, I'm seriously," Judy chided him.

Nick put a paw over her mouth and shushed her, "No, Carrots, the jam cams! There's cameras all over the rainforest canopy! If we could find the footage for the right ones-"

Judy gasped, catching on, "Then we can find out what happened to Manchas and Cass!"

"Yes!" Nick exclaimed.

"There's just one problem," Judy began, her zeal deflated. "I'm still not in the system...and I seriously doubt that Bogo'll let me in it now."

Nick just smirked, "No, probably not...but I have a pal at City Hall who should be able to help."

 _I just realized that I still haven't thanked everyone who has followed and reviewed this so far. I really appreciate the support and everything. You're all awesome. Also Nick's backstory is the same as the movie's so that's why I didn't really add it. Just to clarify. Anyway, leave me a review to fill my heart and my my soul a little bit less of a void. By the way, any guesses as to who Nick's friend is? I mean he knows everyone so there's a lot of options to pick from. Give me a guess and I'll let you know if you're right or not and then you can have glory!_


	6. Chapter 6

Judy's nose twitched, her eyes wide and her paws clenched at her sides. They had eleven hours to solve this case. Eleven hours! And who was Nick's friend as City Hall who could help? A sloth! A slow as dirt sloth named Flash. Who in their right mind gave a sloth the name Flash? Even if it was a nickname? Well, come to think of it the slowest mammal in the history of the world being named Flash was funny in a sense. Judy did have an appreciation for irony...just not when she was in such a time crunch.

As Nick spoke to Flash and explained what they needed Judy tried really hard to not lose her marbles. Luckily, Nick was right about one thing. Flash did come through for them. Nick explained to her that Flash was in charge of surveillance for the majority of Zootopia. It suddenly made sense as to why Nick would suggest that they see him. Then, success. "Here….you….go." Flash replied, ever so slowly pushing himself away from his desk as soon as he got the right cameras up. "I'll just be…..outside of…..the door…...let….me….know…..if there's anything….else….I….can do…."

"Thank yo-" Judy began.

"For you….while you're…...here….I'm more….than happy…...to be…..of service…."

Judy began to thank him again, but Flash wasn't quite done yet,"To you…..while….you're here….."

Judy waited a few seconds, just to be sure that Flash was done before she chuckled nervously and said, "Thank you so much." Flash finally reached the door and said, "Happy to….help….any friend….of Nick's….is a…..friend….of mine."

And with that FINALLY the maddeningly slow mammal left his office.

"Aww," Nick cooed at Judy, "Fluff has a new friend."

Judy just rolled her eyes and got to work getting the right cameras up. "Sky trams, here we go!" Judy exclaimed before rewinding it. They watched as Judy kicked Manchas square in the face. Nick went to get Judy. Manchas was about to attack them and Cass jumped on his from behind. As Cass occupied the larger predator Judy zipped under his legs and tied him up, just in time for him to throw Cass and advance on them. Nick and Judy fell just as an unmarked white van showed up.

"What in the world." Judy said to herself as she and Nick inched closer to the scene to watch what was happening. Timberwolves...they fired a gun that wrapped him up into a thick rope net. Meanwhile, Cass had gotten up and was about to make a run for it when the wolves advanced on threw her paws up, almost as if to declare that she hadn't gone savage. They didn't pay any mind to it though and they shot her down. Nick growled lowly and his collar turned yellow. Judy put a comforting paw on his shoulder, "It's okay. That's only a trank. It should knock her out for a few hours at most, but she should be alright."

Nick calmed, but the color on his collar didn't change back to green. The wolves loaded Manchas into the back of the van while piling Cass into the front. After some tracking (with some help from Nick after the van took a maintenance tunnel to avoid surveillance) they finally tracked down where the van had gone. If they'd taken Manchas there then there was a good chance the other mammals were there too.

They left Flash's office and thanked him. Nick wanted to stay a bit longer to let Flash say 'you're welcome', but Judy yanked him along before the sloth could get a word in edgewise. They were about to leave City Hall when a low and friendly voice shouted, "Nick!"

Nick and Judy both turned around to see Assistant Mayor Lionheart, heavy laden with files. Judy hadn't seen the Assistant Mayor since she'd graduated from the ZPA. But how did he know Nick?

"Hey Leo!" Nick replied, despite the fact that Judy was still on her way to the door. "How's work under Bellwether?"

Leo heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes, "You know perfectly well how it is," He answered, seeming annoyed. Then, Lionheart noticed Judy. "Oh, hello Officer Hopps...how do you two know each other?"

"It's a long story." Nick answered, glancing at Judy. "I'm actually helping crack a case."

Leo arched a brow at the explanation, "That doesn't sound like you."

Nick chuckled, "Maybe I'm going through an evolution."

"Your mom'll be proud, I'm sure," Lionheart chuckled.

"LIONFART, GET IN HERE!" a glass shattering shout demanded making Leo nearly jump out of his mane.

He chuckled, "That's just...a little nickname Mayor Bellwether came up with. I called her Smellweather once, she did NOT appreciate that." The mayor called for the assistant mayor again and he apologized before scrambling away and bidding them farewell.

Nick pretended to not notice how quiet and thoughtful Judy was. Everyone thought that Mayor Bellweather was this sweet little sheep. Nick wasn't so easily convinced though. Espeically on account of the fact that he had lived next door to Leo for years. He'd heard his fair share of Dawn Bellwether horror stories. Still, Nick had more important things to worry about. He could talk politics after he helped Hopps crack this case...and hopefully after he got Cass back safe and sound.

* * *

Thanks to a clever howling distraction from Judy, which sent the wolf pack of security guards into a frenzy, Nick and the rabbit were able to easily sneak into the facility, which seemed to be an old abandoned hospital. After wandering a bit through some abandoned rooms they found what seemed to be a vast indoor greenhouse. Nick made a joke about medical cannabis, but Judy ignored it, rolling her eyes. However, there was no cannabis. " _Midnicampum holicithias_ ," Judy stated when they pulled away a screen revealing a collection of violet flowers. Nick nodded slowly, his expression filled with confusion and concern.

While their find was odd, it was seemingly unhelpful so they pressed on. They came across another area of the hospital, only everything was shiny and brand new. The rooms seemed to be more like prison cells, and at first they looked empty. Up until the point that a half naked tiger growled fiercely and tried to attack Nick through the glass. He was savage. And he was not alone.

There were at least a dozen more savage mammals, including Mr. Manchas and Emmett Otterton. Judy tried to tell Mr. Otterton that she was there to take him home, but he was having none of that. Judy was about to vocalize the realization she had that all of the missing mammals were right here when she and the fox heard a familiar voice.

"Nick?" Nick and Judy turned around and found themselves staring at Cass, who was confined behind the thick glass that even a polar bear couldn't escape, a bandage around her paw where she had banged it up in her scuffle with her ex, but very much alive and not at all savage.

"Thank god!" Nick exclaimed, spinting the distance between them and placing his paws upon the glass to look down at her. "You had me worried there, stupid."

"Be quiet," She ordered, her voice a low whisper as Judy joined them, "You two have to get out of here, this is way bigger than you thought."

Judy looked confused. How much bigger could this thing get? "What's going on, Cass?" Judy asked.

Cass shrugged, "I don't know. I have absolutely no idea. All I know is that the mayor is in on it."

"Bellwether?" Nick questioned skeptically.

"That's a bold claim, Cass," Judy warned.

"It's not a claim, it's the truth. They thought I was still asleep when they came in and she was talking about making sure that some Bogo guy didn't figure out about this," Cass insisted, "You two have got to get out of here."

"No way am I leaving you in here," Nick snarled.

Cass looked at Judy, knowing that it would be useless to talk to Nick,"You have to go, I'll be fine, really."

Judy pursed her lips together and considered her options. It didn't take longer than a few seconds for her to make her choice. "We'll go...as soon as we get you out of here."

Nick smiled, a tad smug, and Cass tried to protest. Judy had Nick help her up to reach the control panel and Judy studied it for a moment before fiddling with it. She was the top of her class for a reason. The thick glass door keeping them apart slid open and Cass warily stepped out.

Before anyone could ask what happened next red lights started flashing and a blaring voice repeating the words 'intruder alert, intruder alert'. All the doors slammed shut and Judy advised that they run. Their only way out was a hatch to the pipes on the floor. Cass and Nick went first, having to squeeze through the opening to the larger pipes below. Judy fit through the pipes more easily,shutting the hatch behind her before letting the water sweep her away.

She came to an abrupt stop, much sooner than expected. Cass's taming collar was stuck on something, and Nick was doing his best to either unhook the collar from the bolt that was keeping her in place and pulling the collar over Cass's head. Both causes seemed to be for naught, and Cass was gasping for air.

Once she realized what was happening, Judy reached for the collar lock in her belt, hoping that it would still work even though it was soaked. They got lucky and with a small click Cass was free and they were rushing down the pipes again.

The three all screamed when their journey down the pipes came to an end and they flew into the air before plummeting into the lake below.

Nick surfaced first, calling for Cass and Judy, only quieting when the girls popped up, Judy first followed shortly by Cass, who was still breathless from the incident with her taming collar. They swam to meet each other before looking up at the old hospital, which was still chaotic, many wolves combing the area for them. "We have to tell Chief Bogo," Judy said, her voice low and cautious. She started swimming to the other side of the lake, the two foxes close behind, and none of them fully comprehending just how much everything was about to unravel for them all.

 ** _Hey everyone! I am still alive, and still working on this story, slowly but surely. Just wanted to take a quick second to thank everyone for reading and reviewing...and apologize for the gnarly cliffhanger. Sorry #notsorry. Don't forget to leave me a review. I love you all._**

 ** _Edit: I'd like to give MetalFox2013 a quick thank you for pointing out that there were previously no paragraphs in the document. It must have spazzed out when I uploaded it, but it's back to normal so thanks for making this chapter readable again MetalFox_**


End file.
